Worm d20
by throwaawy
Summary: You know that one gamer, the one who breaks into every house and turns the place inside-out in their search for loot? That adventurer who slaughters everything in their path for XP? What if the events of Worm were a group of friends simply playing a pen & paper RPG? What if the protagonist could best be described as one such adventurer? Rated T for language.
1. The First Anti-Hero

**disclaimer: **_Worm_ is the intellectual property of wildbow. i am just taking his creation and hacking it into itty bitty bits for my amusement. and the amusement of others... of course. honest.

* * *

**Worm d20: The First Anti-Hero  
**

* * *

It was a Friday night at Arcadia U. The end of the week, the beginning of the weekend—a rather roundabout explanation, but there was a distinct difference between the two. When the weekend came around, sleeping schedules shifted a few hours later into the nights and soft drinks and pizza became the default menu items of choice. Classes and club activities gave way to parties and sleep-ins. Careful consideration of one's wardrobe became the last thing on anyone's mind, giving way to whatever T-shirts or pajama pants were most comfortable.

On Friday nights, it was _game time_.

Colin had just applied the finishing touches onto his latest campaign when the doorbell chimed. He stopped arranging the miniatures on the large dining room table and stepped into the foyer, unbolting the door and stepping back to allow his guests' entry into his home. "Hey guys!"

A chorus of greetings were thrown back at him as a group of five individuals stepped inside. The first one, an attractive blonde with her hair tied back into a french twist, negligently tossed her coat in the general direction of the stand set up for that purpose. She grinned at Colin as she sauntered past, her smile doing nothing to interfere with the exaggerated chewing motions of her mouth as she worried at her ever-present stick of bubblegum.

"Sarah... " Colin sighed as he bent down to retrieve her coat and place it against the hanger.

"I'll get it one of these days," Sarah replied as she made her way over to her usual chair and pulled out the binder holding her character sheets and notes.

"So far you're oh for twelve," the young man following her pointed out. He ran a hand through his neatly-combed black hair, intentionally mussing it up after having spent several long hours at the university's theater trying to maintain a neat appearance.

Sarah stuck her tongue out him, blowing and popping a bubble shortly afterwards. "Bite me, Frenchy."

"Don't tempt me," he countered.

"Um..." a quiet voice spoke from behind them. "Let's... not fight... please." The black-haired man stepped to the side to allow the diminutive redhead past him.

As she walked inside, she made her way directly to their host with a tiny Scottish Terrier following at her heels. "Is... is there a place I can put Angelica?" she asked, not meeting his eyes.

Colin pointed towards the kitchen. "I've got a box and blanket set up in there, same as last time." He watched as she silently stepped towards the room, then called out after her. "There's some treats in the pantry if you forgot to bring yours, Rache!"

There was a nearly inaudible sound that might have been a 'thank you'.

Colin turned towards his last two guests: a tall, gawky-looking young man stood in the doorway politely, his hand clasped against the head of a younger-looking girl at his side. "Brian," he greeted. "You've brought a guest?" Their chocolate-brown skin and similar facial features suggested that they were siblings, but it didn't hurt to be sure.

"My sister," Brian confirmed, adjusting the oversized glasses perched on his nose. "Dad's out working and Mom's playing host to some of her housewife friends, so she dropped Aisha off at the dorms earlier today. She just wants her out of the house for tonight at least. That's not going to be an issue, is it?"

"Nah, not a problem," Colin said. "I've actually invited another person myself."

That got everyone's attention.

"Really? Who?"

"Someone we know?"

"Are they starting from scratch or did you help them roll up a char?"

Colin raised his arms for silence. "Guys, quiet down for a sec. We've been doing this campaign for a few weeks and you guys really nailed that last challenge I threw at you, so I figured this would be a good time to start a new one. You can keep your own chars, I want to see how you deal with babysitting a relative newbie."

Sarah grinned. "Sweet."

"Anyhow, she's also living on campus so I told her when and where we usually meet up so she should be here at anyti—" he broke off as the doorbell rung once again. "Oh, there she is."

He opened the door to reveal a tall girl standing at his doorstep. She wasn't looking at him or the room, instead fiddling with a cellphone. Her dark, curly hair was artfully arranged to frame her face, drawing attention to her wide, dark eyes.

"Nice~" drawled 'Frenchy'. "And this is?"

Colin cleared his throat, catching the newcomer's attention. "Hey, right on time. Guys, this is Taylor. Taylor, this is our roleplaying group. Plus a few extras."

Taylor thumbed her phone off and turned a brilliant smile on the group as she stepped inside. "Hey. Nice to meet you all."

Colin began pointing to each person in turn. He started with the redhead now reentering the room after seeing to her puppy. "That's Rachel. She's playing Hellhound, the group's tank and transportation."

"Bitch!" Sarah corrected. "We're all adults here, no need to get all PC and shit."

"Sarah..." Brian clapped his hands against his sister's ears and gave the blonde a warning glare, paying little attention to the high-schooler batting at his hands irritably.

"I don't mind," Rachel said demurely as she took her seat. "Bitch or Hellhound, whichever you prefer."

Colin shook his head and threw out a hand helplessly towards the heckler. "Sarah, she's the group's know-it-all munchkin."

"Which means she cheats by finding creative ways to utilize player-knowledge," the teen sitting beside her grumbled.

Sarah popped another bubble into his face. "It's just my character's power. I can't help it if it's just that awesome." She turned towards Taylor and gave her a wink. "And while we're still getting introduced, try calling me Lisa. I need it to get in-character."

Colin turned towards the other half of the bickering duo. "Jean-Paul—"

"Paul," he corrected. "Only my sister still calls me by my full name. And same with 'Lisa' over here, try getting used to me as Alec when we're playing."

"Paul here is the group's crowd-control, taking care to disable enemies any time they try to do something particularly nasty."

"And then some," Paul winked.

"Finally we've got Brian, he also helps to disable enemies but he generally acts as the shot-caller. He's very... methodical about it. Good thing talking is a free action, eh?"

The rest of the group groaned good-naturedly as Brian readjusted his glasses, looking slightly miffed. "And this is my sister, Aisha. She's not a player, she's just watching for today."

The teen simply waved.

Taylor nodded at each in turn as they were introduced to her. "Nice to meet you all. I guess I'll be joining you for the near future. I'm a bit new to all of this, in fact..." she winced. "I haven't yet finalized my character sheet. Do you mind if we spend some time working out the kinks?"

Colin scanned the room, looking for any objections. "Sure, I don't see a problem with it."

...

* * *

"Holy _crap_, you're psychotic," Paul said. "And I should know, I made my own character somewhat sociopathic, but... you... "

"What is it _now?_" Brian groaned. He had not lifted his head in the last half hour, instead choosing to hammer it slowly and consistently into the table's surface.

"She wants to go Carrie on her classmates."

"What?! Taylor, _no_. You can't use your powers at the drop of a hat like that!"

"Why not? You said this was a roleplay. Why can't I roleplay getting some super-sweet stress relief in my backstory?"

"Let's try this," Colin interrupted from behind the safety of his DM screen. "Taylor, do you _really _want the chance to go nuts on people?"

"Heck yeah."

"I mean, granted our group is RPing as villains, but you're kind of stretching it. But fine. You'll get the _chance—_"

The rest of the room erupted.

"Are you _kidding_ me?!"

"She's gonna bring the fuzz down upon all our heads in just one encounter!"

"I… don't think it's such a good idea… "

"Hey, hey!" Colin stood up from his seat, stopping the complaints. "Taylor you get the chance, but you've got to take a penalty. DM fiat: I'm forcing your character to take the anti-hero trait."

Taylor blinked at him even as she scanned her character sheet out of the corner of her eye. "A what now?"

"Anti-heroes generally have some sort of darker side they need to fight against in order to do good. A character with that qualifier might have to occasionally roll a Will save in order to do 'the right thing' instead of taking 'the easy way out'."

"Sounds great."

"I'm not done yet," Colin continued. "I'm flipping it around for you. You've got to roll each time you _want_ to do something horrendous. If you fail, you've _got _to do the right thing."

"Whaaat?!"

"What's your Will modifier?"

"Um… two?"

Colin ducked behind his screen for a few moments and there was the sound of a pencil furiously scratching against a sheet of paper. "Okay, roll a d20, right now."

Taylor rolled and cursed. "Twelve."

"No, you may _not_ go Carrie on your classmates."

"Can I sit in a bathroom and scream my head off?"

"Sure."

...

* * *

"Colin," Sarah asked, "What are you doing back there?"

"I'm writing up an emergency character in case I need to railroad Taylor back in line or something."

"Eew, railroading."

"Do you want to find out the alternative?"

"I guess not."

...

* * *

"Okay, Skitter. This is your final encounter before you meet up with the others. You're on the verge of taking out Lung. What do you do?"

"I've got bugs on him, right?"

"Yeah, but he's slowly burning them off."

"They're poisonous?"

"...yes. But he's regenerating."

"But you said earlier only parts of him were changing at a time. We've got his head and neck, his back, his arms and legs, all that, right? Am I missing anything?"

"Maybe his torso, you're not gonna get to his heart anytime soon."

"That's fine." Taylor picked up her die and tossed it across the table's surface.

"What was that for?"

"Will save. Nineteen."

"Erg… success. Do I want to know?"

"I go for the family jewels!"

"What."

Brian and Paul shifted uneasily in their chairs.

"Yeeah~" Colin drawled. "I do believe this is where you guys step in to save Lun—er, save Skitter from getting in over her head. The rest of you roll for initiative."

For a few moments there were no sounds other than the rolling of plastic and vocalized numbers.

"Alright. Bitch, go."

…

* * *

"Armsmaster? A Master of Arms. With a swiss-army polearm that can turn into a metal _cage_. Yeah, not broken at all. I'm calling shenanigans."

"A rock falls on Regent. You die."

"There _are_ no rocks above us. Did you suddenly make up some sort of super telekinetic and a conveniently located rock quarry?"

"Hmm, that gives me an idea for an NPC…"

**ooo**

* * *

_**(a/n)—**so i thought this up one day while on the train. a crack fic heavily inspired by DM of the Rings, Darths & Droids, and all their subsequent derivatives. fun fact, this was very close to being titled "Skitter's Gonna Choke Herself a Bitch."_

_i'm not going to be going through every single scene, just the ones that seem to be good stations to stop at_

_so... please read, review, and let me know which scenes (if any) you'd like to show up later.  
_


	2. The Second Raid

**Worm d20: The Second Raid  
**

* * *

"What the fuck?!"

Everyone flinched away as Taylor slammed her hands against the tabletop, jarring several miniatures out of place.

"She attacked me! With _three_ dogs!"

Seated across from the irate girl, Rachel blanched and shrank back against her seat. "I—I… that's how I greet—how my _character_ greets people."

"She like, mauled my face in! How many hit points did I just lose?!"

Colin frowned as he readjusted a few pieces so they were back in their original positions. "None, that really _is _kind of what Rachel's character does."

"She just tried to kill me!"

"I… just gave them the hurt command. If-if I had given them the _kill_ command… then... you would have known."

The taller girl spun to face their leader. "Brian, what's the right thing to do here?"

Brian rubbed his hands against his forehead. "Um, look, Taylor. I can have Grue just talk to her and let her know that sort of stuff isn't cool with you. Bitch is kind of rough around the edges, but we've just learned to work around her."

Taylor grimaced and rolled up her sleeves. "Screw that, I want to bust her head in."

"W-what?!" Rachel leaned back in her chair as far away as she could get from the irate girl.

"C'mon… hah! Eighteen!"

"C-Colin...?"

The DM sighed. "Taylor roll a Strength check. Rachel what's your armor class?"

…

* * *

"Okay guys," Brian said. "Just like we planned. We gather up all of the civilians and corral them into the main room so we have them in one place. Bitch goes in first to draw attention and then I Cloud of Darkness the whole area to keep them from running around in a panic. Regent takes out the security guards and Tattletale hangs back until it's clear. Skitter?"

"I drop bugs on everyone to mark them," Taylor began.

"Right and then we—"

"—and then have 'em bite and sting them all into submission so they don't bother us any while we grab the loot."

"What? No! You can threaten them if they get out of line but we don't want to bring any more heat on us than we have to!"

"That's boring!"

"Colin!"

"Roll for it."

"Screw you, Grue."

...

* * *

Sarah frowned at the placement of the miniatures. "Hey, Colin? I think you've gotten Aegis and Clock's positions switched. Want me to get that for you?"

"No, leave them. Have you guys rolled your initiatives yet?"

Sarah tilted her head as she tried to puzzle out his reasoning, then flicked her eyes at the screen as if she could see past it to the DM hiding beyond. A smile slowly snaked its way across her face and she picked up her skill die.

"Hey guys... "

Colin poked his head up. "What? Wait—Sarah, no. No!"

Sarah simply rolled and pointed towards her result. He sat back down with another muttered curse.

...

* * *

"Skitter takes... " Colin rolled several dice in quick succession. "Four bludgeoning damage plus another two for having been ambushed. You are stunned for one round."

Taylor glared across the table. "This is all your fault."

Brian had the good grace to look sheepish.

"The NPC drops her fire extinguisher and pulls out a cell-phone..."

"Regent?"

"It's not my turn."

"Hate you—"

"Aaaand, enter Glory Girl, stage right hook to the face."

_"—so much."_

...

* * *

"No! Whyy?!" Rachel cried, shoving her dice away from her and glaring at them in betrayal.

The others simply stared at her.

"How do you roll _that_ many fumbles when you've got _advantage_ on your perception checks?" Paul finally asked.

"I don't _know!_" the redhead wailed.

Colin shook his head. "Right, so Bitch is out of this next encounter, having _somehow_ been completely blindsided by the two loudest and most obnoxious opponents you guys have had to face yet. The rest of you go looking for her and run into Leet and Über. Roll for initiative."

…

* * *

"I'm blind, I'm under an _incredible _amount of pain... and these other guys are still stuck in goop?" Taylor asked.

"Yep," Brian replied. "It's only like five or six penalties to your attack roll. No pressure. Not like we'll TPK if you fail."

"Right... I guess I'll go for the bitch's ankles since I'm still prone." Taylor squeezed her eyes shut and rolled the die.

The others stared as the d20 came to a stop.

"Huh, imagine that," Sarah said.

Brian and Paul relaxed in their seats.

"Fucking _metal_," Taylor crowed.

"You uh... well, you miss her ankle, but you've just cut off Bakuda's toes," Colin stammered. "Taking out her bomb triggers. Somehow."

"Nice, now we loot the body, right?"

"No, you pass out after that attack and the others still have about five turns before they can free themselves. She limps away, but you guys still get XP."

_"I chopped her fucking foot off!"_

"She limps away _very slowly_."

**ooo**


	3. The Triple Play

**Worm d20: The Triple Play**

* * *

"So, that's Coil's group, Empire Eighty-Eight, The Travelers, Faultine's Crew, and Skidmark's Gang in a nutshell. Any questions?"

"This is a lot of detail for a bunch of side-quest NPCs," Paul commented. "We're going to have to fight these guys later, aren't we?"

"Q1A1."

"What does that even—Tattletale, what's that mean?"

Sarah was too busy to answer, instead she was occupied with taking down notes on everyone in the room. Except for Faultline. Because one, she already had the other woman's info written out in her backstory; and two, _fuck_ Faultline.

Rachel poked at a miniature situated in the middle of the E88 group. "Say, wasn't one of these standing off to the side of that one place I attacked?"

Brian nearly spit out his cola. "What?! When did _this_ happen?"

"Um, last week I think. That was when you said you had to babysit your sister at home."

"You guys told me nothing important happened!"

"It—it wasn't important! It was just a personal side quest Colin let me do to make up my missing XP since... since I missed out on the previous encounter."

"Speaking of which," the DM interrupted, "_that _particular guy is the Second in Command of E88 and that was his dog fighting ring you busted up. He. Is. _Pissed_ at you, Bitch. This threatens the stability of the whole alliance even."

"Rache, I hate you so much right now."

"I—I'm _sorry!_"

"Grue, better start rolling your Diplomacy checks."

...

* * *

_"Ooo,"_ Lung growled, his voice no longer recognizable as human.

"Yeah, me," Taylor replied.

"Sundancer gives you a sort of _look_," Colin narrated. "She wants to know how the two of you know each other."

"I made his crotch rot off," Taylor replied airily.

Brian and Paul squirmed uncomfortably in their seats at the reminder.

"Accidentally," Colin helpfully added.

"_Fuck_ no. That son of a bitch had it coming."

...

* * *

"Hey, Lung pretty much always regenerates back to full health given enough time, right?"

Taylor finally understood what Colin meant when someone gave her a _look_. It was the type of look someone used when they were waiting for the punchline to arrive. For the other shoe to drop. For the recipient to ask everyone to ignore their previous statement and just laugh it off.

"Look, he's wise to your poison—although admittedly he wasn't expecting Newter's. But that's still not going to keep him down for long."

"Yeah but... I could cut an arm off and beat him over the head with it, and he'd recover from that?"

"You are _not_ going to cut—"

"Yes," Sarah answered.

"_Thank_ you, Tattletale. You've now just become my best friend in this whole group." Taylor checked her item list and frowned. "I don't suppose there's a rusty spoon somewhere in this crackhouse, is there?"

"...I think I'm going to make you roll a Will save before I answer that."

"Seventeen."

"...no, there is not."

"Oh. Well... that's a shame." Taylor poked her pencil at a particular line on her sheet. "Combat knife it is."

"A combat knife won't be able to get through any of Lung's limbs," Colin warned her. "I wouldn't even bother rolling for that."

"Silly you, it's not for his _limbs..._"

...

* * *

"Dude, Armsmaster wasn't enough for you? Now you're RPing GLaDOS?"

"Well, Armsmaster clearly wasn't cutting it. And besides, it's _not_ GLaDOS, it's _Dragon_. She's a totally kickass AI and that's _all _they have in common. She's there to help you guys."

"...except she's working for the heroes and we're still RPing villains."

"Well… aside from that, yeah."

...

* * *

"Colin, _what the fuck?!_ You gave your proxy char a _bug zapper?!_"

"I've studied your powers," Colin replied. "This was over from the moment you stepped into the room."

"Yeah, bullshit," Paul replied. "Assault and Battery? Fine. Witty combination of names too. Miss Militia, totally cool—even if she got me with a lucky crit. Velocity, I like how you managed his power. Triumph, don't quite get the name but he's fine too.

"But then we get a guy with a localized EMP that can fry our weapons with no possible saving throw, a visor that can see in the dark, a _grappling_ hook-slash-flail, and now a bug zapper."

"He also has a lie detector that gives him a huge bonus to Sense Motive checks," Sarah added in helpfully.

"_How_ is this not a broken DM proxy?" Paul finished.

"Fuck that," Taylor growled. "You want me to play nice but then _you _make the most min-maxed character _ever _when I won't play ball?"

"Skitter? You, especially, do not want to irritate me any more tonight," Colin replied.

"That doesn't even sound remotely badass."

...

* * *

Colin looked at the group from across the table, scanning everyone's faces. He settled on one particular individual. "Rachel—Hellhound…"

The normally quiet girl stared back at him, meeting his gaze. "Colin, AKA: Armsmaster the cheating cheater of cheats."

"Surely you can see that if this goes any further, I can't promise that this campaign you guys have been so proud of won't suffer any permanent damage."

"We—we'll manage," she stuttered confidently. "It's how the game works. Things will turn around."

"How? I've probably given this more thought than Brian and I can't see a way this can't end up in flames. Paul? He's too absorbed in acting as much as a jerkass he can, all in the name of 'immersion'. Sarah? I think she just passed out from a food coma."

Head slumped against the table, Sarah twitched and giggled in her sleep. "More pizzaaaa~"

"And Taylor? She's the _cause_ of all this derailment. This is the only way I can bring you guys back in line. None of you are walking away from this one."

Rachel flicked her eyes to the side briefly, then squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. "Lung underestimated her too," she said.

Colin glanced over to where Taylor was rolling a pair of dice within one hand, the other propping her chin up against the table.

She was grinning madly. "Willlll save~" she sing-songed.

…

* * *

"'First off, let me show you what I desire,' Coil says, and then he rolls down the window to show you the whole of the city skyline," Colin narrated.

"The city?" Taylor asked.

"The city, yes. Desiring to take over the world is not only cliche, but unrealistic."

Someone began to whistle, the opening bars of the 'Pinky and the Brain' theme song instantly recognizable by everyone present.

Heads turned to find Aisha sitting in the corner, a book nestled in her lap. She glanced up and stopped whistling once she'd noticed everyone staring. "What? It seemed fitting."

"...how long have you been sitting there?" Sarah asked cautiously.

The teen blinked. "Um, since all night? You don't remember Brian bringing me over?"

Brian shrugged, looking sheepish. "You know, even _I_ had almost forgot she was here…"

…

* * *

"Skitter, roll a Stealth check."

"...why? I'm in my _house_, right?" Taylor blinked and suddenly sat up straighter. "Oh, did somebody follow me home? Solo encounter, here I come!"

"...nevermind. You're halfway through the kitchen when the door shuts behind you and you find your father standing there."

"If my dad is about to tell me that he's been a secret cape for all this time and never told me…"

"No, he's just worried about you. About the direction your life seems to be headed. He's not happy that you seem to be keeping secrets from him and it would probably break his heart to hear all the things you've been up to."

"Are… are you trying to use an NPC to _guilt trip_ me?!"

"Skitter, what do you do?"

"Look, I can just tell him straight out. Rip off the bandage all at once."

"Roll a Will sa—"

"This has _nothing_ to do with anything nefarious!"

"No, this is just a normal roll against your own emotions, since you feel conflicted about keeping him happy and keeping—I guess—_yourself_ happy."

"Hah! I just got a job offer to be one of the chief lieutenants of an entire _city_ run by a guy who can control _probabilities_. Where's the conflict?"

"Do you want to tell him that?"

"I'll leave him a note while I bust down the door."

"Will save."

"Arrgh…seven."

"You can't tell him, you burn up your note. Next?"

Taylor turned to the side. "Lisa."

"Yo."

"Get me out of here."

"Can do."

**ooo**

* * *

_**(a/n)—**so i had all of these saved up from my earlier snippet posts, so don't expect this speed of updates ^^;_

_and no. the titles don't really mean anything, i'm just thinking of the first things that come to mind with the matching numeric theme_

_so now you can see the general break down of... well i guess the first few arcs. review to leave requests of any particular scenes you'd like to see, or catch me on the #parahumans channel at (irc dot darklordpotter dot net), or in the spacebattles fic discussion thread._


	4. The Fourth Wall

**Worm d20: The Fourth Wall**

* * *

Paul entered the room at a brisk walk, speaking in his usual cultured voice and not the biting tone he adopted when he was fully into the game. "My apologies for being late, but rehearsals went over—hey, where is everyone?"

Rachel looked up from where she was supervising Angelica's feeding. "Brian called earlier to say he... that he was running a bit behind. Apparently he and Taylor were catching a late lunch."

"Together?"

"Y-yes..."

"Why does the thought of 'Taylor' and 'lunch' together in the same sentence fill me with supernatural dread?"

"Y-you too?"

...

* * *

"Hey, she's not so crazy _outside _of the game. She's actually quite nice once you get to know her."

"Somehow I'm not _quite _con—"

"Somehow I feel like I ought to be socking you in the face right now."

"Uh huh... Yeah. Not convinced."

...

* * *

"Okay," Colin said when everyone was finally gathered together. "I figure that since you've all finally learned about the mastermind backing your activities, now would be a good time to get to know each other better. Did you all bring your backstories with you? Properly fleshed out and all?"

Rachel, Brian, and Paul raised their hands.

"Uh, this is the first I've heard of this," Taylor said nervously.

"The backstory you wrote up at the beginning of the campaign is enough," Colin assured her. He turned to the other holdout. "Lisa?"

Sarah shrugged and popped a bubble before continuing to chew nonchalantly. "A girl's gotta keep some secrets," she said.

"Can you at least show it to _me?_"

"Oh, if you _insist._" She sighed and reached into her bag, pulling out a one-inch binder filled with paper. She held it over the table and dropped it, sending miniatures and other light objects rattling.

Colin glowered at her, "I didn't ask for a short story."

Sarah winked at him. "Just be sure to read it all, or I can't be held accountable for my actions."

"I hate you so much."

Taylor slumped. "So, we're _not_ going to having any encounters today?"

"Not yet, let's hear some character building from the people still willing to share. Alec?"

"Please give me a few moments, I'm not quite ready yet," Paul replied.

"Brian, then?"

"Sure." Brian turned to give a brief smile to Taylor, then adjusted his glasses as he leaned over his own set of printouts.

Colin was momentarily confused when both Rachel and Paul broke into a fit of shivering.

...

* * *

Taylor reached for the board and knocked the last enemy miniature down with a flick of her finger. "And that," she said triumphantly, "is how one properly uses psychological warfare. Bug clones, ahoy!"

The others simply stared at her.

"What?"

"The guy was just coming to complain about the noise," Sarah pointed out.

"He had a gun."

"You didn't know that!"

"Or... _did_ I?"

"You gave away your identity!"

"No, I'm pretty sure the bug clone took care of hiding any details, right Colin?"

"She's right," the DM sighed. "That's the least of your problems, though. See, that was supposed to be a _Diplomacy _encounter. While you were doing that, Coil was nice enough to publicly out the civilian identities of every member of Empire Eighty-Eight's parahuman roster."

Sarah immediately choked on her ginger ale.

"Exactly. The way it _would_ have worked is that since he did it anonymously, nobody would have been openly suspected or accused. Depending on how this encounter was resolved, they would either not suspect you at all and together you guys and Coil could slowly and safely undermine E88's influence over the area and take over for yourself."

"And... now?" Brian asked.

"Well, since Taylor basically attacked one of their members without provocation, all their eyes are set squarely on you guys. It's open war."

"Woo_hoo!_" Taylor crowed.

"No, no... that's a _bad_ thing."

...

* * *

"Can I?"

"No."

"Please?"

_"No."_

"She attacked me first!"

"Taylor, I didn't let you attack Emma but you did it anyways—and look how _that_ turned out. I'm _not _going to let you attack Sophia. You've pretty much got a record now and more attention is the _last _thing you need at this point."

"But she is _sooo_ asking for it."

"Brian?"

"I step in and try to talk them both down. Diplomacy checks on the storekeeper, Sophia... and I guess Taylor too."

"You've got some serious penalties if you're going to try to talk _her_ down."

"Sophia or Taylor?"

"Yes."

…

* * *

"Huh, so this Purity… she's pissed."

Sarah nodded and pinched her fingers together. "Yep. Just a smidge."

"And she's so upset because she thinks we kidnapped her kid?" Paul asked. "Why would she think that?"

Heads began to turn—

"It wasn't me," Taylor protested, raising her hands defensively.

—towards the DM!—towards _Colin—_for their explanation.

"As it currently stands, it really _doesn't_ have anything to do with you," he clarified. "Active combat zone plus underaged children equals Child Protective Services stepping in. In this case it's just the PRT being a bit overzealous. However, going back to your… particular form of diplomacy, she's blaming the Undersiders anyhow."

"Joy."

...

* * *

"Skitter, get away from them," Brian ordered.

"Too far a distance, she can't hear you," Colin interjected.

"Wait, I've got bugs on him so I can keep track while he uses his darkness, right?" Taylor replied.

"Probably."

"I can tell that he's carrying something?"

"...yeah?"

"Can I tell that he's lugging around a freaking _oxygen tank _and a gun?"

"I don't know if you'd be able to tell it was an oxy—"

"We were in an ambulance, what else could it be?"

"Oh... well then, yes."

"I get the _fuck_ out of dodge."

"You break free, but Stormtiger gives chase and knocks you down."

"I roll away, assume a fetal position, and cover my ears."

"I throw the tank at Stormtiger's feet," Brian said, "then create a Cloud of Darkness to hide where it landed from Hookwolf and the others."

Several rolls later, "They are momentarily disoriented and can't react," Colin informed him. "All of them."

"I draw my pistol."

Taylor grinned. _"'Smile you son of a bitch'."_

"Kaboom?"

Colin rolled several saving throws behind his DM shield, then shook his head. "Kaboom."

Rachel had her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking slightly as Taylor and Brian traded high fives.

Paul reached over to pat her on the back consolingly. "It's okay. We haven't spent as much time with her yet. We aren't infected yet."

**ooo**


	5. The Fifth Element

**Worm d20: The Fifth Element**

* * *

"Rache! Angelica had a little accident!"

"Sorry!"

"Oh god, it's all over the floor!"

"_Sorry!"_

...

* * *

"Short rest for Grue and Skitter as you two meet back up with the others," Colin announced. "Each of you pick up thirty-seven XP, but you should prolly patch up."

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked. "He seems like he'd be pretty scratched up after going up against Cricket's kamas."

"Her what-nows?"

"They were described as dual-wielding short-hafted scythe-type things, right? _Kamas._"

"Those are actually a thing?"

"This is all beside the point," Taylor pointed out. "Scratched up, bleeding or not, he's fine until he drops to zero hitpoints. Gotta love game mechanics."

...

* * *

Paul stared at the open field filled with miniatures. "Colin, you son of a bitch. You actually did it."

"You arrive to find Purity and her forces already engaged in a two-front battle against Brockton Bay's homegrown forces—New Wave. Supporting them are elements of the Wards as well," Colin continued over Paul's objections.

"We can probably ignore the heroes," Brian said. "They've got bigger problems to worry about."

"Leaving us with Purity's secondary line and… who's this over here?" Sarah asked. She pointed towards one miniature that appeared to be perched onto a large concrete slab, telekinetically levitated over the battlefield.

To put it another way, it was a large rock floating in midair. Ready to fall... and presumably make a lot of people die.

"I can't believe you actually made a char for... y'know what? I am _not_ getting close to her. Never know when or if it'll fall while I'm walking underneath it," Paul stated conclusively. He thought for a moment. "Do you think I could make her flip it over and drop it onto herself?"

...

* * *

"Fog steps towards you, turning into… well, _fog._"

"I am shocked, I tell you," Taylor said. "Absolutely _shocked._"

"What does my power tell me about these two?" Sarah asked, rolling her dice.

"It tells you that retreating from them is in your best interests... and that you _really _don't want to look away from them."

Rachel suddenly squeaked and stared at her die. "I think I just fumbled my commands to my dogs."

Colin peered over the divider. "So you did," he commented. He rolled a percentage die and… "Angelica stays behind to defend her master against this unknown fog and inhales some. She's poisoned."

"W-what?!" Rachel glared at Colin. "I find your roll suspicious! You… you're just doing that because of what happened earlier!" she complained.

"Eew, she inhaled bits of cape? Wait, what happens to him if we all breathe him in?" Paul asked.

"Don't wanna think about it," Taylor said.

"Probably something bad… for us," Sarah guessed.

"Can you get her out of the fog?" Brian tried. "Maybe it's a temporary effect."

"Hold it," Colin interrupted. "Were you all just focused on Angelica right there?"

"...maybe? But talking is a free—"

"The very moment you looked away from Night, she blindsides Brutus. He takes… thirteen slashing damage."

"Holy crap!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Don't blink," Sarah summarized. "Blink and you're dead."

"Oh hell no," Brian said. "That's just unfair."

"What the fuck _is_ this woman?" Taylor asked. "Tattletale?"

The blonde rolled her skill die and tipped her head at the result. "A Weeping Angel," she said confidently.

"No... " Colin said tiredly. "Look, imagine that this woman got powers that let her turn into something so _wrong_ that she's got some sort of mental block that keeps her from transforming if anyone can see. Maybe because she's so ashamed of being seen like that. When nobody's looking, though, she's a monster. Lightning fast and all sharp."

"Or what he said. That works too."

…

* * *

"Purity takes Tattletale and departs. The rest of her group makes a half-hearted effort to intimidate you, but they all failed so you're good. You guys are clear."

Sarah nodded. "And that's why you let _me_ do the talking. Brian, you can let Taylor go now."

Brian unwrapped his hand from Taylor's mouth, blushing slightly even as the girl began gasping and wheezing theatrically.

"I still say we could have taken them," she protested.

"After a job well done, Grue and the dogs get some medical treatment. Purity reunites with her daughter—and on a completely unrelated note, several nameless PRT mooks now require a new set of pants. After a long rest, the Undersiders are called in to meet Coil at the following location... "

...

* * *

A precog.

An honest-to-God precognitive.

A precog with the ability to calculate the probabilities of the future down to the _decimal_ points. Combined with Coil's ability—as it was described, at least—to manipulate probabilities…

"Good lord that is the most broken combination I have ever seen," Taylor whispered reverently. "And that's without even getting into actual combat applications."

Rachel scratched the back of her head uneasily. "Why was she talking so funny?"

"Sense Motive check," Colin informed her.

"H-huh! twenty-six with bonuses."

"You can tell that she's under a compulsion of some sort."

Brian blinked. "Would that be her 'candy' that she was asking for?"

"Perhaps. Is it?"

Brian obligingly rolled his skill die.

"So it is. Little Dinah is completely drugged out of her mind."

Everyone turned towards Taylor. After a few moments, she blinked as she became aware of their focused attention. "What?"

"Um, not that I'm _personally_ complaining, but little girl under the control of a villainous mastermind, drugged into next Tuesday so she will do his bidding?" Paul summarized.

"A little girl who was kidnapped at the same time we did our bank robbery," Sarah chimed in.

"Good lord, do you write down _everything _Colin mentions?" Paul asked.

"Pretty much, yeah. Don't you?"

"So what?" Taylor blinked. "We've got the chance to take over an entire city and we've got a veritable _fortune-teller _to back us up! This is a really _sweet deal!_"

"Um, I think leaving her to her fate without comment is a bit... un-heroic," Brian pointed out.

Taylor's face fell. "Do I have to?"

Everyone turned towards Colin, who answered without even blinking. "Yes."

"Fuck." Taylor half-heartedly rolled the die, then leaned in to confirm her result. _"Fuck."_

"You _fumbled?_" Colin peered over his DM screen. "Oh dear," he said as he dropped back down into his seat. The others could hear him sifting through his various notes.

"Whaat…?" Taylor asked suspiciously. "What did I just do?"

"Well, um… it seems you feel _so_ heroically offended by this situation that you will not be able to drop the matter at all. You uh… you've got a new side quest. You have to separate Dinah from Coil somehow."

Taylor gaped silently for several moments. "Do I have to?!"

"Yes. And now… " Colin poked his head up once again. "The others. How do you feel about this Dinah situation?"

Paul shrugged. "Not really happy about it, but like Taylor said, this is a really sweet deal."

Brian nodded. "I agree, my character's background story makes it clear that he doesn't really care about anyone beyond his family. Friends are a close second, but it's not worth making a fuss over."

"Rache?"

"I… I don't have an opinion one way or the other."

Sarah shrugged. "Majority vote, I guess. Two to one to null, I guess I'm siding with the boys."

Taylor nodded and sat down. "There, majority vote. I'm overruled, let's get to cracking the city wide open then."

"Actually, since you rolled a one on your Will save, you now feel _so strongly_ about this injustice that you can't have anything to do with the others. The fact that they're even considering it up for discussion or voting _offends_ you."

"This railroading of my character's motivations is certainly offensive to me."

Colin rolled a percentage die behind his screen, then looked up. "Huh. You just quit the group."

"I did _what_ now?!"

**ooo**


	6. The Sixth Sense

**Worm d20: The Sixth Sense**

* * *

"So, what do we do about Taylor?" Brian asked.

"If she still wants to play, I'm not going to stop her," Colin replied.

There was a fit of coughing from Paul's side of the room that sounded suspiciously like laughter.

"But she's effectively on her own, you guys can still interact, but her side quest should have no bearing on your own campaign unless or until she fulfills the conditions to complete it." Colin grinned. "Now that that's out of the way, Armsmaster and Dragon have just discovered something rather _interesting~_"

"Oh?"

"How do you guys feel about your first CR30?"

"Uh, wouldn't that be just a _bit _beyond our Encounter Level?"

Just then, the door slammed open and Taylor marched in from the hallway, followed by Sarah.

"Right!" she shouted. "So, Lisa and Taylor have been talking and we think we've figured out a good compromise...but that can wait for later. What's this I'm hearing about an epic-tier fight? I want in!"

"Are you sure? There will be other NPC-capes there as well as the Undersiders, but you'll effectively be on your own."

"Pshaww, what's the worst that could happen?"

…

* * *

"Guys, these are the girls from my crafting class that I told you about—Sabah and her friend Lily. I told them about the our upcoming encounter and they're just here to watch for today."

"Hi," said the darker-skinned girl. "Glad to be here."

"Likewise," Lily added.

"Ah, welcome!" Sarah exclaimed. "Good to see you, we've been needing some new blood in here to break up the boy's club anyhow!"

Sabah took in the room at a glance. Her gaze fell on Colin, Brian, and Paul at one end of the table, then flicked over to Taylor and Sarah at the other, with an empty chair beside them. "I see," she said.

Colin frowned at the absence. "Where's Rachel?"

"She texted. Had stuff to do," Brian said. "Wasn't sure if she'd be a no-show or just late, so she said to go on without her for now."

"You sure you want to do this without her?"

"We'll manage." Sarah brushed his concern aside with a flippant wave. "So? How'd you all meet?"

"Meet?" Lily asked. She blinked and shook her head. "No, no, we are classmates. Sabah here is on the same floor as I am. We are nothing more than just friends."

Sarah eyeballed the Japanese girl even as her companion also gave her an odd look. "...Riiight," she drawled. "Classmates. From class. Gotcha."

"So!" Lily said in a volume just _slightly _too high to be casual, "Colin said something about dinner and a show?"

Heads across the table turned.

"What…?" Taylor asked suspiciously.

…

* * *

"If we're splitting ourselves up by tasking, where do I go?" Taylor asked.

"I don't know," Colin replied. "Where do _you_ think you'll be useful?"

"Can my bugs make a shield to protect me from harm?"

"No."

"Is this 'Leviathan' susceptible to hornet, wasp, or spider venom?"

"Definitely no. In fact, I doubt you'd even be able to break its skin."

"Can… my bug-clone confuse him long enough to aim somewhere that isn't me?"

"...Possibly."

"Can my bugs pick me up and carry me around?"

"No."

"Can my bugs keep track of the sucker?"

"If you can find a way to keep them from dying every time he uses his own water clone, yes."

"... does Leviathan need to _breathe?_"

"No."

"Are his eyes easily accessible to—"

"No."

"Does he have genitals?"

"_No."_

"Have I weirded out our newest guests yet?"

"_Yes,"_ Lily promptly replied, staring at the taller girl with something between awe and horror.

…

* * *

"Hooray for Skitter the Triage medic, I have saved a life. I think."

Colin rolled a percentage die. "Tidal wave," he announced. He peered over the divider then circled a small area with his dry-erase pen. "Riiiight... here."

"Aaand I'm fucked."

"Skitter, you can make it to Shielder's zone of protection, but only if you drop the unconscious cape and leave him to his fate."

"I dunno," Taylor mulled. "He _is_ pretty fat. And one could make the argument to say there's not much I could do for him in the first place."

"I'll let you choose without a Will save, how's that?"

She immediately pulled her hands back over her shoulders. "Thud. I turn and run."

Colin began rolling dice. "Tidal wave hits, you and a few others survive behind Shielder's… shield. Unfortunately many others are unable to get out of the way in time and perish, including Iron Falcon and Chubster. Both were capes you attempted to save, but in the end it was futile in the face of Leviathan's AoE."

"I still get _some_ brownie points for attempting, right? My hero-sense is assuaged by that much, at least?"

"If you say so."

"Farewell, Chubster," Paul solemnly intoned, "the only man to steal Skitter's lips and live to tell the—well, I suppose you _didn't_ live or else I wouldn't be doing this. You will be missed."

Brian blinked and responded with an eloquent, "What."

"Chubster was a special man. Born Filmore Q. Gogleblat the Third, he grew up on a sprawling manor in the Hamptons, at least until his father's wife discovered that her husband had a kid with the cleaning lady. With his mother deported, Filmore was left to his own devices as yet another white kid with a rich dad and famous name whose mother wasn't around. Poor Filmore." Paul finished by blowing his nose theatrically.

Colin stared at him. "No, seriously… _What?_"

"C'mon, Chubster is an _awesome _name," Paul protested. "How could you kill him off?"

"I don't know if I should reward you XP for that stirring eulogy, or penalize you for the sheer _what the fuck?!_"

…

* * *

"Hey girls?" Colin turned to look over his shoulder. "I need some throwaway powers for some of the other capes, got any suggestions?"

"Um…" Sabah placed one finger against her chin in thought. "Maybe one could fight with… giant stuffed animals?"

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of," Taylor said.

"Hey, if your friend Rachel can make cute puppies into vicious monsters, why couldn't someone else do the same with a teddy bear?"

"I stand corrected. That would be kind of awesome."

"Hrm," Lily said. "What about one who has the power to pierce anything, even that monster's skin. With a rapier—or no, a crossbow."

"There's already a hero with a crossbow," Brian pointed out.

"A _big _crossbow."

"That'll work," Colin said, scribbling down notes. "Thanks, girls."

...

* * *

Taylor frowned at the placement of the pieces on the grid.

"So… the shelter is full of people—civilians rather."

"Yep," Colin confirmed.

"There's four capes present, including myself. But two of them just got gibbed and one is face down in the water about to drown. And my arm is _still_ broken."

"Yep."

"And Mr. Water Kaiju just busted down the door and is slaughtering everyone inside."

"Succinctly put."

"I am so out of here."

"Roll."

"What? _No!_ No! I am _not_ risking my health and life for this stupid… fucking three."

"At the very least, you turn back and flip Laserdream over so she can breathe. The hero in you wants to save those people, Skitter. What are you going to do?"

"Hang on, I want to Search for something—sixteen! Oh, hey! What do you know? The teacher who allowed the bullying is in there too! I hate him. I'm all, 'Grrrr. So mad, he sucks.' I can leave now, right?"

"You still rolled a three on your Will save."

"_God fucking damnit!"_

…

* * *

"Rachel! You came back!"

"S-sorry I'm late," the redhead replied sheepishly as she slid into place. "What have I missed?"

"Rachel! Pick me up," Taylor demanded. "Right now!"

"Short version, we've got a water-based kaiju stomping over all of our asses," Brian said. "Tattletale's out but evacuated safely. Regent is useless. I'm _partially _useless. And… Skitter is drowning in five inches of seawater."

"I'm _paralyzed_ you dork! Rachel! Pick me up! Flip me over! _Something!_"

"Oh... I, um, am I even nearby?"

"If you want to be, but keep in mind Skitter's pretty much right on top of Leviathan," Colin replied. "You've been sitting out the fight until now and it took you this long to arrive. How many dogs can you buff at once?"

"Um… eight or nine, I think."

"Let's assume eight then. Angelica is still down with whatever she inhaled in the fight with Fog."

"What?! That's not fair!"

"What do you do?"

"U-um, I guess I have them all attack... while I grab Skitter's arm and haul her to her feet."

"Which arm?"

"Her... left?"

"Skitter! Take one point of damage, she just picked you up by your broken arm."

"_Fuck you."_

"Eep! Sorry!"

"Not you, this bastard's got it out for me."

"Bitch, have you rolled your—yes you have, thanks. Hum… two of your dogs instantly die. None of the eight did any appreciable damage."

"I… I take back what I said about being upset that Angelica's not here…"

…

* * *

"I just have to say: Worst. Hospital. _Ever._"

…

* * *

"Forget it guys, I'm telling you straight up. Skitter either joins the Wards, or she gets thrown in jail. There's absolutely no way around this," Colin said.

"Maaaybe, maybe not," Sarah said. "Let's just say I find evidence of your railroading—lining up all the pieces to get this very outcome. Except parts of it didn't work, and so you might have fudged the dice rolls just a _bit._"

"He did _what?_" Brian glared.

"Yeah... Colin, your Armsmaster just decided to kill everyone in his way and try to claim solo credit on Leviathan."

"I did no such thing! I _rolled _for every death!"

"Oh? _Properly?_" Sarah rolled her dice, then grinned at him when the results came up. "That's not what my power says~"

"One: player knowledge. Two: you can't find out info that _doesn't exist_, Tattletale, therefore—"

"I found your campaign notes the other day. You really shouldn't leave your bag lying around where anyone can get to it."

"You _what?!_"

Paul pushed himself away from the table to do a little jig. "Ding-dong, the DM proxy's dead~"

…

* * *

"Hey, Taylor?"

"Yeah, Rache?"

"Y-you seem to be rather… um, creative. I was hoping you could help me out with something…?"

"Oh really? _Sweet_. You know I've been thinking about all of your guys' powers and what you could do with them and—_man_ this is gonna be so _great_ when I'm through with you all!"

"W-what? No… no, I'm happy with how I am right now…"

"Oh."

"It's just that… well, Colin killed off so many of my dogs, I just felt I had to… remember them in some way. Except I'd never really thought about names beyond my initial three."

"Who were those again?"

"... Angelica—"

"Oh, right, your pet stand-in."

"—Brutus and Judas."

"So that leaves… "

"Six more, since Angelica wasn't actually there. Maybe more, if...if you could spare the time?"

"Not a problem. Lesse, off the top of my head… Hey, one got his limbs chopped off, right? Let's call that one 'Stumpy'."

"Er…"

"Oh and that newcomer, she was Japanese, right? I took an intro class last semester, what's a good color—oh, 'Kuro'. That's Japanese for 'black'."

"If… if you say so."

Taylor turned her head one way, then the other, scanning the campus around them. She pointed at each object that had caught her attention in turn. "Milk. Axle. Ginger."

Rachel frowned at the last name as she realized just where Taylor's finger was pointed at. "It's auburn… " she muttered defensively.

"And hmm… last one… let's go with 'Bullet'. I feel like Water Kaiju could have used more shooting."

"Those… those sound like _great_ names. Thank you."

"Except for—y'know—being _dead._"

"A—aside from that, yes."

**ooo**


	7. The Seventh Samurai

**Word d20: The Seventh Samurai**

* * *

"So Aisha's going to be joining us now?" Paul asked as everyone waited on Colin's doorstep.

"I couldn't stop her," Brian groused. "She saw Taylor having so much fun and wanted to try it out for herself. Fortunately she's been visiting enough to not get totally lost with where we are in the campaign."

"Or where Parian and Flechette are," Aisha added.

Brian raised an eyebrow at his sister. "Parian and who?"

"Colin had those newcomers do a trial run of sorts to see if it was something they'd be interested in. I tagged along." She leaned forward and pitched her voice into a mock whisper. "Don't tell anyone, but I think the doll girl is gay for the archer."

"Everyone is GAR for Archer," Taylor said as she walked up to the others from the sidewalk. "It's why he's Archer. What did I miss?"

"...or maybe it was the other way around?" the teen muttered to herself.

...

* * *

"Skitter, after your very public falling-out with the others, there had better be some _good_ reasons for them to trust you," Colin reported. He spread out his arms to take in the whole table. "Go on, _impress_ me."

Sarah raised her hand, "I can vouch for her."

"Not good enough," Brian said. "It's probably better if you don't actually try to back her up, because then it just looks like Tattletale is manipulating us. I think it'd put us even more on edge."

"I probably don't care," Paul said. "But I'm intrigued enough to hear her out."

"I… I don't think that I—that Bitch—would be very pleased to see her back," Rachel stuttered. "She's already gone against the pack, in a sense. I would most likely be very against her."

"So," Colin reiterated. "Why would you come crawling back to the Undersiders after they have demonstrated such evil, wickedness in condoning the kidnapping of a pre-teen parahuman?"

"Well~" Taylor flicked her eyes over the others seated at the table, finally settling on Brian. "My decision was influenced through the Power of Love?"

Aisha immediately began gagging.

Colin raised a hand to massage his temples. "Try again," he said.

...

* * *

Taylor spitted Colin with a pointed glare. "I can't believe you used my history as fodder for your evil whims."

"Shadow Stalker was always going to be sort of an anti-hero. Just look at Grue's backstory. You just gave me a better characterization to slap her with."

"Is that why she attacked me during the whole snafu with the E88 crap?"

"Yyye—no?"

"Whatever. I hope the bitch accidentally fries herself."

Sarah returned from the kitchen with a fresh can of ginger ale and arched an eyebrow as she found Paul still rolling his dice with a look of intense concentration on his face.

"Regent, are you done with her _yet?_"

"I _swear_, did somebody roll all the twenties out of my babies?" he complained in answer.

"I'm sure Colin would have just given you some basic penalties. You didn't have to make it so you _needed _a crit to make people puppets."

"Thematically speaking, assuming direct control over another human—_especially _another cape—should be a long and arduous process," Paul defended himself. His tone shifted as he broke character for a brief moment. "One shouldn't be able to grab people willy-nilly or at the drop of a hat. High risk, high reward and all that jazz."

"I'd be more convinced by what you were saying if you weren't currently trying to crush your d20 into itty-bitty chunks."

"It. Has. _Betrayed_ me."

Aisha glanced up from where she'd pulled out a book to read. "I vote we allow him ten more tries before we just give up and say he takes all night."

…

* * *

"I'm liking this encounter series," Taylor chirped happily. "I think this is the best thing you've ever done for us, Colin."

"Speak for yourself," Paul grumbled. "_You_ aren't the one who has to keep rolling skill checks for _every single action_ just to Bluff your way past these guys and follow the plan."

Taylor simply smiled beatifically and leaned back in her chair, sipping at her drink.

"Oh... right. Well, still… "

"Best. Encounter. _Ever,_" she reiterated.

"Everyone has now 'fallen'," Colin announced as the last few rolls were made. "The PRT squad Shadow Stalker summoned is on site and asking to foam the Undersiders so that they're more secure. Needless to say, this would make your job much more difficult later. Regent, how do you Bluff your way out of this one?"

…

* * *

"Weld asks Shadow Stalker for the week's anti-Master/Stranger password. Keep in mind that Regent is currently the highest-rated Master in the city."

"Wow, I am?" Paul muttered. "Awesome. Tattletale?"

Sarah rolled her die, then leaned back in her seat and stared at the ceiling for a few moments. "Comanche Six-six-two," she finally stated.

"What she said."

The others waited as Colin rolled against her, then relaxed as he gave them a thumbs up.

"Now he wants Shadow Stalker to apologize."

"What?"

"For assaulting Kid Win. This is a serious breach of discipline and the Director can't let this slide."

"Holy crap, she beats up on her own team? Taylor, your friend is a _jerk_."

Sarah gave a start and began rolling her skill die again. "Colin?"

The DM peeked over the screen and sighed. "You can tell that Weld is still trying to Bluff you _somehow_. You're not quite sure about what, however."

Paul grinned. "I tell him to cut the testing bullshit, that I did _nothing_ to Kid Win."

"Good save," Colin said. He muttered something that might have been 'stupid Tattletale' before poking his head up again. "Who was it?"

"_Seriously?!_ You _really_ want me to fail this, don't you?!"

"This is _so_ much more fun when it's happening to someone else," Taylor said happily.

…

* * *

"Bitch?"

"I get to the front door and whistle for my dogs."

"Success, but it'll take them a turn or two to get over to you from where they are. Regent?"

"Shadow Stalker engages Weld. Hey, I don't have to care about her, but he does, right?"

"...yeah?"

"She goes in full HAM with no regard to her safety. Meanwhile 'I' get the PRT mooks off of Grue and myself."

"Ham?" Aisha blinked at the unfamiliar term.

"Hard As a Motherf—"

"She gets it," Brian interrupted.

"Oi…" she grumbled.

"Weld is on the defensive, good job, Regent. Skitter?"

"_BEEEEEES!"_

"Of course."

…

* * *

"Flechette's attack distracts Regent enough that he loses control over Shadow Stalker for a brief moment," Colin announced. "She turns and attacks… Tattletale. Take four piercing damage and you fall prone."

"Regent!" Sarah barked at him. "Keep your puppets under control!"

"It's not my fault! I didn't expect to have to deal with an enemy PC," Paul countered.

From the newly vacated space at the other end of the table, Lily held her hand up in the air as Sabah slapped it from behind her.

"Hey, Lily, what's your perception bonus?" Aisha asked sweetly.

...

* * *

"Stupid exploding lightning guns. Stupid containment foam. Stupid _Dragon_. Fucking Tinkers," Taylor muttered. She raised her head to spit the occupant on the other side of the table with a glare. "Stupid... _Bitch!_" she roared.

The redhead unsuccessfully tried to shrink back into her chair.

"That's the _second_ time you've tried to kill me!"

"I—I saved your life once, too," Rachel protested. We're just back to where we were earlier."

"Oh, that's right. How silly of me." Taylor nodded agreeably and turned towards Colin. "So by this precedent, when she attacks me, in order for it to balance out again she has to save my life and I get to sock her, right?"

"Err… "

Rachel squeaked.

"Hold on," Colin interrupted. "Before you can deal with Bitch's perceived betrayal, you also need to deal with Shadow Stalker. She's conscious in there. It's the classic case of _I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream_. If we're going to be fair, you need to roll for how you're feeling about that as well as… equalizing things between you and Rachel. Which is more important to you?"

Taylor frowned with indecision and looked down at her hand as she juggled her die.

...

* * *

"Taylor, Coil seems to have accepted your excuses and your apologies, so good job on that."

"Hooray?"

"Moving on, I've got a minor side-quest for Tattletale to help analyze the data you guys stole from the PRT. For the rest of you, depending on what she finds out, I'm going to introduce you to the Evil League of Evil."

"The what now?"

"The Slaughterhouse Nine."

"You mean Five?"

"No."

**ooo**


	8. The Eight-Legged Freaks

**Worm d20: The Eight-Legged Freaks**

* * *

"Hey, Taylor," Brian greeted. He frowned as he took a closer look at her as she walked over to the table. "Are you alright? You're not looking so hot."

Indeed, the normally well-kept young woman appeared unusually disheveled. Her clothing was creased, her hair was a mess of tangles, and she had worn a pair of glasses thick enough to rival Brian's own set. He hadn't even realized she'd been using contacts up to this point.

"Bad dreams," Taylor replied sullenly. She yawned. "Sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me. I'm just going to blame Colin."

"Er… okay."

...

* * *

"Good news, everyone!" Colin crowed.

Sarah gave Colin an odd look. He simply ignored her and spread out a map of Brockton Bay across the table's surface. Colored dry-erase markers delineated boundaries all across the map, dividing it into nine or so zones of influence.

"As some of you might recall, Coil's plans have been coming into fruition quite nicely. Now he's decided to reward you all with your own territories and bases. The Undersiders will still be a cohesive unit, but now you're much more spread out with your own zones of operation. Imp, for the sake of expedience, you and Grue share the same territories."

"Great," the teenager grumbled.

"Regent, you've got the area near the college. Bitch, the Trainyards. Skitter, you've got the Boardwalk. The Travelers will be handling the areas here, here, here, annnd here."

Sarah pointed out one of the remaining unclaimed areas. "Is that one mine?"

"That's Coil's base," Colin clarified. "It also overlaps with Trickster's area since he's going to be staying fairly close by."

She winced and pointed to the tiniest zone. "_That's_ my territory?"

"It's centralized, and it currently has the highest concentration of refugees at the moment," Colin pointed out. "Besides, I would have thought you'd want to spend portions of your effort to micromanage everyone else."

"Meh," the blonde grumbled.

"Anyhow, most of you did pretty well in emailing me your plans for taking control of your areas, subduing the population, removing undesirables, that sort of thing. Except… of course… "

Heads turned towards Taylor.

"I had homework," she said defensively.

"Maybe you could think of something right now?" he suggested.

"Maaybe."

"Wait. In the interests of saving time, let me guess what she's planning," Paul interrupted them. "It involves bugs. Lots and _lots_ of bugs. You're going to threaten the entire boardwalk with spiders, or bees, or _something_ if they don't behave—and you're going to be cackling maniacally the whole time you do it."

Taylor hesitated briefly, throwing a quick, thoughtful glance towards Sarah. "Actually…" she began.

…

* * *

"Phase One: borrow some supplies from our oh-so-benevolent benefactor. He'll have to agree if he's trying to keep up his image as working to _improve _the condition of the city after the Endbringer attack."

"C-can she do that?" Rachel asked bewilderedly.

"It _is_ one possible interpretation of Coil's motives," Colin replied, turning a hard stare towards the person sitting beside him.

Sarah grinned and popped another stick of bubble gum into her mouth.

"So I'll use the supply truck to circle the area," Taylor continued. "This lets me do two things: it lets me draw attention to myself, and it also allows me to gather all of the bugs in the area." She had been rolling her die several times during her explanation. She glanced down and nodded. "And I've just gotten a _lot _of bugs."

"What's Phase Two?"

"Well, I guess I find out how good my Charisma is against these folk."

…

* * *

"Two random encounters," Colin announced. "One of the normals is trying to grab all of the supplies for himself, and he is armed with a knife. You also spot a Protectorate hero lurking off to the side. She's not doing anything at the moment, but she is watching you very carefully."

"Say, spider silk is tear resistant, right?" Taylor asked.

"Yep," Sarah confirmed.

"Dare I say… _knife_ resistant?"

"Yep."

Taylor took off her glasses briefly and wiped them with the hem of her jacket. When she rested them over her eyes again, they twinkled slightly in the light. "It's time to show this jerk just what he's dealing with. I walk up to this guy… and _mock _him."

"Wait, _what?_ You're _not_ going to go all 'BEEEES' on him or anything?" Paul asked incredulously.

"No, I'm going to let him stab me."

"…What."

"Your AC is too high," Colin pointed out. "He's going to whiff every single attack."

"I know," she said, grinning.

"He attacks your gut, your chest, and slashes across your throat—your costume goes up to your chin, right?"

"Yep. Vicious little bugger, isn't he?"

"None of his attacks succeed. You have successfully unnerved him."

"_Now_ I hit him with my wasps. By the way, did you ever get my email about letting me use wax and pepper spray in combination with my bugs?"

"…Roll for—"

"And then, I turn towards the rest of the crowd and let them know this is what happens if _they don't behave_. It's all for the greater good, see?."

"…I guess that can work. Still, the hero, Battery, comes over to confront you."

"Charisma check again! I show her all the _good_ things I'm doing here. I'm totally raising the status quo, fighting the good fight, and all that jazz."

"She's a bit _concerned_ about the level of violence you're willing to demonstrate to prove your point."

"Whaaat, _that _guy? He fell down some stairs."

"She just watched you sting him into submission."

"She also watched him try to stab me first. Totally self-defense." Taylor rolled her die, "…and he _totally fell down some stairs._"

"…How the hell did you roll th—no. She doesn't believe you _at all_. I don't care what the dice says. But… she's also not going to do anything to you. Orders from above and whatnot. But she warns you that she—and the other heroes like her—will be keeping their eyes on you."

"So I passed?"

"…Yes, you passed that encounter too."

"Sweet! Now then, everything is nice and copacetic, yeah?"

"…What does that even mea—"

"Great! On to Phase Three: _Profit._"

"…how about we let Regent have his turn instead?"

"Spoilsport."

…

* * *

"How are things going on your end, Rache?"

"Um… well the _good_ news is that I'm not having any problems with people in my territory."

"That's good! Even in mine I'm getting a few dissidents no matter what I do. How'd you manage it?"

"…Because there _are_ no more people in territory. I sort of… scared them off."

"Oh… is that a good thing?"

"I—I'm not sure… but I doubt it."

...

* * *

Taylor bounced away from the table with a spring in her step. "That was fun. I'm going to go get more tea. Does anyone want any?"

The others remained at the table, their minds collectively struggling to interpret what they had just borne witness to.

"Bugs…" Paul groaned, clutching his hands to his temples. "Bugs with torches and pitchforks."

"I don't think they a-actually had _pitchforks_," Rachel suggested. She threw a glance towards the kitchen. "Right? T—they didn't have pitchforks?"

Cheerful humming could be heard through the open doorway.

"T—Taylor? They didn't h-have pitchforks, right?!"

…

* * *

"Imp, you and Grue have a new sub-quest for dealing with remnants of Fenrir's Chosen."

"Are we going against the neo-Nazis because we're Black? What the f—"

"Aisha!" Brian cut her off with a glare.

"Regent, Bitch, your territories aren't doing so hot, so you'll be continuing with that until things get more stabilized."

"Hey, I'm doing the best I can!"

"S—sorry… "

"Tattletale, Skitter, you two will share a sub-quest for dealing with the Merchants." Colin clasped his hands together. "Who wants to start?"

Taylor raised her hand. "Can we get the details on our respective quests before we decide?"

"Certainly. Skitter, after having seen you working against the various malcontents in your territory, one of your new tenants approaches you with a request."

"And this would be… "

"Helping to find her brother who was tragically kidnapped by elements of the Merchants. She can describe them to you but has no other information. That's where Tattletale comes in."

She irritably waved her hand in a 'shoo' gesture. "I vote we turn this one down. Pass. Whatever. Let's hear what Brian's got."

"Will save."

"What?! I'm _already_ doing good here! More important, goodlier things!"

"Roll."

"You're an utter bastard."

**ooo**


End file.
